How leadership style affects animal training

Last week I published a 5 part series on different leadership styles and how they affect animal training. I was inspired by ongoing controversy about Cesar Millan. It seems that I am the only animal trainer who does not hate Cesar. On the contrary, like the public, I adore him.

Cesar Millan really cares about dogs & people.

One thing I love about Cesar is that he is always growing and evolving. He is the kind of trainer who considers the animal to be his teacher. Back in 2006 some of my horse-owning friends were telling me about a search for a horse and a dog that needed training help because Cesar was teaming up with Pat Parelli of Parelli Natural Horsemanship. The show finally aired in early April of 2009. It was a great show with Cesar frequently praising Pat and expressing his admiration.

Linda & Pat Parelli of Parelli Natural Horsemanship

Since then I’ve noticed some changes. For instance, shortly after that episode Cesar was called to rehabilitate a pit bull. The poor dog had been kept on a chain her whole life and tormented by her drug addicted owner and his friends. Now clean and sober, the owner wanted to make it up to his dog. Cesar was unable to safely approach the dog so he went into the house and rigged up a home made ‘carrot stick’ in order to touch the dog from a distance. This strategy is similar to ‘pole gentling’ which is a process of building trust with wild or extremely fearful horses.

I’ve also noticed that Cesar talks about ‘dogs and horses’ now. In another recent episode Cesar discussed the flight response. While this is most common in prey animals, like horses, certainly many dogs choose to run rather than fight and I was happy to see Cesar address this behavior which is sometimes misinterpreted as a dog being willfull or disobedient.

I’m not sure what the problem is with other trainers. Do they even watch his show? I find many of their criticisms completely unfounded. Are they jealous? Perhaps. They almost always concede that he is ‘charismatic’. I believe the truth is - professional dog trainers don’t want the general public to train their own dogs. Maybe they think it will put them out of business or decrease their value.

“It’s not about what I can do with horses. It’s about what I can teach you to do.” ~ Pat Parelli

I believe the goal of all animal trainers should be to teach other people how to effectively communicate and develop relationships with their own pets. Pat Parelli along with his wife Linda and psychologist Stephanie Burns have created an educational program including DVDs, books and online resources precisely so people can learn to safely and gently train their own horses.

“I rehabilitate dogs and I train people.” ~ Cesar Millan 

Those trainers who genuinely care about animals and want the world to be a better place for all dogs and horses, will eagerly follow the lead of Pat and Cesar.